Basketball double-header tonight, big game looming for football this weekend.
Basketball
Both Kansas State’s men’s and women’s basketball teams have started the 2024-25 season 2-0, and both are in action tonight from Bramlage Coliseum for the first of several double-headers this year.
Up first, your No. 10/11 MittieCats take on the Creighton Bluejays, who started the season in the Top 25, but fell out after losing to South Dakota State 76-71 in Brookings, SD last Friday in their season opener. They bounced back on Monday with a 80-72 win over Drake in Omaha. Creighton returns the bulk of a squad that fell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season to 2-seed UCLA, and despite the early stumble will be a tough early opponent for the Cats, and the first of at least three* non-conference opponents that played in the NCAA Tournament last season. The Cats open our double-header at 5:30pm CT from Bramlage tonight (Thurs. 11/14), and, unlike the men, will be on actual television with the game set to be broadcast on ESPN2.
*Oklahoma is a possible opponent in the early season tournament in a couple weeks.
The TangCats (2-0) face their first big test of the season tonight as well, as LSU (2-0) is visiting the Little Apple in the return game of the home-and-home series scheduled with the Tigers. Last season, the Cats, led by Cam Carter (who transferred to LSU in the offseason), went to Baton Rouge and left with a 75-60 victory. Including a 61-59 win in 2022, the Cats will be looking to make it 3-0 versus the purple squad from Louisiana. Speaking of Carter, the former Cat is currently pacing his new squad with 21 points per game, shooting 52% from the field and a red-hot 61% from deep. While Cam is no stranger to the Octagon of Doom, it will be his first time as an opponent in the building that was his home for two seasons.
The Cats and Tigers tangle at 8pm CT (or (likely) 30 minutes following the women’s game should it go extra long). Neither team is ranked, so no TV for this one; you can catch the action on ESPN+/WatchESPN. Though, according to K-State, you will get the same crew for both games as Mark Neely and Jimmy Dykes are apparently pulling double-duty.
Football
After a second in-season week off, your Wildcats get back to action this weekend against new conference foe Arizona State. It’s been 22 years since the last time the Cats and Sun Devils squared off, with K-State defeating ASU 34-27 in the Holiday Bowl. But in the six-game history between the two state schools, it’s been primarily the squad from Arizona that has emerged victorious. Arizona State opened the series 5-0, though all five came before 1990 and all in Tempe — meaning this will be the first game between the two schools in Manhattan. Kickoff is set for 6pm CT, and will be aired on ESPN.
Next Saturday’s game against Cincinnati does not have a time set, as that game (along with most of the Big 12 games for next week) has been put in the 6-day window by the conference’s TV partners.
Volleyball
The up-and-down season for the VolleyCats continued this week with a sweep at the hands of No. 17 Baylor last night to drop to 9-13 overall on the season, and 7-6 in Big 12 play. It wasn’t all bad news, as senior Meg Brown achieved her 400th career block in the loss. The Cats have their penultimate home match tomorrow night as they face No. 18 TCU at 6:30pm CT at Morgan Family Arena, which can be seen on ESPN+.
Signing Day
Yesterday marked the start of the early signing period for every sport but football, and K-State announced multiple signings.
Men’s and women’s golf each added a pair of recruits for the 2025-26 squads. On the men’s side, England’s Oliver Toyer and Finland’s Ville Virkkala signed their intent to join the Cats next year. Both are part of their respective country’s national team, with Toyer ranking 34th in the U18 Euro Amateur Rankings and Virkkala ranking 26th in the U21 Euro Amateur Rankings. On the women’s side, Texan Stalee Fields and China’s ShiXin (Casey) Kang will join the Wildcats program next season. Fields is currently ranked 71st in the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) rankings, while Kang has picked up several wins in major amateur events across southeast Asia.
Despite the night ending poorly for the VolleyCats, it started with with the signing of six new Cats, including a Kansan, for the 2025 season. The class is scattered across North America, with a player each from Kansas, Arkansas, Montana, Arizona, Virginia, and Ontario (Canada).
But the biggest news of the early signing period came from the K-State women’s basketball team, as Jeff Mittie announced the signing of 5-star guard Jordan Speiser and 4-star guard Aniya Foy, as well as Spaniard Gina Garcia Safont. The trio gives the Cats the No. 6-rated class by ESPN and marks a big step for the future of the program after the bevy of strong seniors graduate after this season.
Speiser, a guard/wing from Warrenton, MO, is rated as the No. 10 player in the class by ESPNHoopGurlz, No. 14 in the nation by ProspectsNation.com, and 19th overall by 247Sports. Speiser has also been named to the watch list for the Naismith Trophy Girls High School POTY.
Foy, a four-star guard from Katy, TX, is 46th, 41st, and 52nd by those same services.
Garcia Safont, hailing from Barcelona, Spain, has played for both the Spanish and Catalan National Teams during her young career, winning medals in the U16, U17, and U18 levels. She also plays on the Segle XXI Barcelona club team, the same squad that current Cat Gisela Sanchez played on before coming to the USA.